AMD FirePro demos new GPU-based Maya renderer.

AMD is working on a new GPU-based raytrace renderer, designed as a proof of concept to accelerate the uptake of the OpenCL 2.0 framework in photorealistic render engines. It is currently integrated into Maya 2015.

AMD has been promoting OpenCL as an alternative to Nvidia’s CUDA for GPU-based rendering for some time, but support has been patchy: V-Ray RT currently supports it, but Octane Render does not, for example.

The new engine would give AMD an equivalent to Nvidia’s iray: a showcase for what OpenCL-based renderers can do in production.